As if inspired by our latest blog post on misconceptions about Buddhism, The Onion recently ran an article poking fun at Buddhism's stereotype of passivity. Under the headline “Buddhist Extremist Cell Vows To Unleash Tranquility On West,” the article breaks news of a 45-minute video featuring faux Tibetan teacher Tsuglag Rinpoche. Rinpoche threatens that “In the name of the Great Teacher, we will stop at nothing to unleash a firestorm of empathy, compassion, and true selflessness upon the West.” Rinpoche goes on:
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The first to receive the Dalai Lama title, Sonam Gyatso forged a relationship with Mongol leadership
Asha Kaufman

Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives mine primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized on their website. The following summarizes the biography of the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, by Miranda Adams.
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In the new series 10 Misconceptions about Buddhism, scholars Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr. will expand on one of these popular misconceptions on the Tricycle blog every Thursday.
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The founder of the first Tibetan Buddhist center in Europe was committed to the path of social good, even at his death
Robert Barnett

On the morning of Tuesday, October 8, the prominent Tibetan lama, doctor, and humanitarian Akong Rinpoche was stabbed to death in a residential community in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, along with his nephew and monk attendant. The tragic ending of his life reflected his lifelong commitment to tasks and ideals that, to a degree exceptional among Tibetan lamas in the West, were difficult, controversial, and far-reaching in their implications.
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Wincing at waste, write pocket-noteson the innocent sides of used pages, savelong distance calls till Sunday, chasethe last slipping rice grain around your plateand even hurry slowly, actingalways with trustful slowness within,mourning even the loss of a friendwith that dignity in her spirit nevergone…you have no need but to move,sleep to waking, insult to lovehappening to happeningat the pace of a gradual smile, at the paceof the hammer-stroke heartthat proceeds to the nextfull beat, and then the next.
Barry Spacks, a poet and painter, teaches writing and literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A busy man, he hurries slowly.
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Recurrence, salvation, and the bodhisattva way
Lyn and Tom Davis Genelli

The life of one day is enough to rejoice. Even though you live for just one day, if you can be awakened, that one day is vastly superior to one endless life of sleep. . . . If this day in the lifetime of a hundred years is lost, will you ever touch it with your hands again?
—Zen Master Dogen
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Teacher to the First Karmapa, the Indian master Vairocanavajra was also an alchemist
Alexander Gardner

Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives mine primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized on their website. The following summarizes the biography of Vairocanavajra written by Dan Martin.
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Last month, a group of Tashi Lhunpo monks created a sand mandala at London's Samye Dzong to commemorate its founder, Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, who was killed in China on October 8th.
Of all the artistic traditions of tantric Buddhism, that of painting with colored sand is one of the most exquisite. The mandala represents the celestial mansion or abode of a principal deity or deities, surrounded by their retinues, and representing the path and fruition of the particular cycle of practices.
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Overcoming intractable political obstacles, one lama founded a thriving Buddhist academy in China’s Tibet
Asha Kaufman

Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives mine primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized on their website. The following summarizes the biography of Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, by Antonio Terrone.
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Buddhist literature has never shied away from the dark and frightening
Harry Einhorn

Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives mine primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized on their website.
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In this exclusive online video teaching filmed at the Garrison Institute in upstate New York, Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche speaks with Tricycle on an array of topics concerning Buddhism and modernity. Rinpoche explains how to rid ourselves of unhealthy habits (from alcoholism to poor diet) and how to live amongst unhealthy surroundings, as well as argues that technology can be helpful "if we have a good heart." "Buddhism is the science of the mind and the art of life," he says in the teaching. "The bottom line is: how can we be more kind to each other?"
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To showcase the richness of Tibetan ghost stories and to celebrate Halloween, Trace Foundation invited you to send in your scariest, most hair-raising entries for a Tibetan ghost story competition. Learn more about Trace Foundation and their work over at www.trace.org.
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Thailand's Supreme Patriarch, who led the country's order of Buddhist monks for over two decades, died Thursday, at age 100:
Doctors said that Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara (SOM-ded PRA YA-na-SUNG-WORN) died at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, where he had been treated since being admitted for an illness more than a decade ago, on Feb. 20, 2002.
Thailand is the world's most heavily Buddhist country, with more than 90 percent of its 67 million people members of the religion. As the head of the religion, the patriarch has legal authority to oversee different sects of Buddhism.
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Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives mine primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized on their website. The following summarizes the biography of the First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drub, by Miranda Adams.
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Again, an elder was once circumambulating the outer perimeter at Radreng Monastery. Dromtönpa asked him, “O elder, performing circumambulation may be satisfying, but wouldn’t it be better if you practiced the Dharma?”
The elder felt that, instead of performing circumambulations, perhaps it would be more effective if he were to read Mahayana sutras, so he began to read sutras on the temple veranda. Dromtönpa then asked him, “Reading sutras might also be satisfying, but wouldn’t it be better if you practiced the Dharma?”
The elder took this as a sign that, when contrasted with reading sutras, engaging in meditative absorption is more profitable, so he abandoned reading sutras and sat down with his eyes closed. Again, Dromtönpa asked, “Meditating might also be satisfying, but wouldn’t it be better to practice the Dharma instead?”
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Join Tricycle for a special evening of international music and celebration.
"In the Spirit: Music from the World's Greatest Traditions" will feature the New York City premiere of Songs of Milarepa, composed by Philip Glass and set to poems by Milarepa (1052–1135), a famous saint and poet of Tibet. The evening will also include performances by Pomerium, Riyaaz Qawwali, Foday Musa Suso, Wu Man, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, and the Scorchio Quartet.
Details:Thursday, October 24, 7:30 p.mThe Townhall, 123 West 43rd StreetTickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-982-2787.
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